If you’ve been selling real estate for a while, you know that the secret to success is generating leads, and lots of them. Equally important is the ability to replenish them.

Why not just advertise them?

On the one hand, many agents assume that they must have listings to advertise, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, it’s just as easy to generate leads from other agents’ listings as it is from your own.

Now, I assure you that I not only suffered a blow to the head, but think about it for a second. Do you think the agents in your office would be upset with you for advertising their listings? Probably not. In fact, they may be downright ecstatic about it, because they know that the more exposure their listings get, the more successful they will be at selling them.

And most importantly, why would they be upset that you spend your money to make money? You too, of course.

So they probably don’t care one bit, but to be on the safe side, you should ask before you do.

Email Marketing to Leads

There are many attractive aspects of email marketing, including, but not limited to, that it is a relatively inexpensive way to advertise. Plus, you can have your marketing messages delivered 24/7, almost completely automated; And in some cases, once you build a campaign, you can duplicate it for little or no additional expense over and over again.

Some agents use special reports, while others use email newsletters as the foundation of their email marketing campaigns, but have been low maintenance by using pre-written content. Many agents simply don’t have the time or interest to write their own materials, so they simply buy pre-written content and choose what they want to send to their readers.

If you want some, you can also go to Google and type “real estate agent marketing reports” or some variation of that.

Advertising and email marketing: a dynamic combination

The key element of email marketing is for people to request information in exchange for their email address and other contact information, and for people to offer up their contact information.

For example, you could announce the following. “3 Bedroom Home – Best Value in West End Subdivision. Won’t last long. Email your name (yourself) at your name’s email address for complete details.”

Do you think people might email you for additional information? And of course, you are not limited to advertising in a newspaper. You can advertise on flyers and place them on the windshields of parked cars at malls and malls in your area.

Another example of this email marketing strategy is advertising to collect the names and email addresses of tenants in your community who might be interested in buying their first home. You could have a running ad that says something like… “Own a home for as much as rent. Email your name to the email address in your name for a confidential inquiry.”

Again, you shouldn’t limit your advertising to just newspapers. Alternatively, you can post fliers in laundromats and just hang out where people gather; in commercial offices, stores, university campuses, cinemas, etc.

Now the point in both examples is to build your mailing list, not to make sales. While that may not be exactly what you want to hear, you have to understand that not many people are shopaholics when it comes to buying real estate. It’s too big an investment for that. Instead, they typically work on the process for months, sometimes years.

So it’s unrealistic to think that you can change that about them and have them buy a house from you just because you want them to… especially if you just put them on it. Forget it now.

However, it is reasonable to expect that if you cultivate a relationship with them, you can be the agent they work with when they are ready to buy. That’s the power of advertising to email marketing leads.

So once you have names and email addresses, you’re ready to take the next step, which is converting them into paying customers. In fact, you’ll be able to provide useful information and follow-up for as long as it’s needed, and much of it with similar precision to efficiency.

Who knows, very soon you could be in the enviable position of having people on your list buying and selling through you, one by one, and all because you recognized the basic principle of selling, which is to build relationships.